


The Last Known Survivor Stalks His Prey in the Night

by ladivvinatravestia



Series: Through This Dark Land [1]
Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, accidental kitten acquisition, author is a crazy cat person, no beta we die like men, roaring rampage of revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 08:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20871443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladivvinatravestia/pseuds/ladivvinatravestia
Summary: The Soldier means to blow up the underground HYDRA base.  He doesn't mean to blow up Farmer Len's field.





	The Last Known Survivor Stalks His Prey in the Night

**Author's Note:**

> For Whumptober prompt "explosion" and Spooktober prompts "cat" and "pumpkin patch".
> 
> Additional warnings: references to past non-con; references to boundary/consent issues.

The Soldier means to blow up the underground HYDRA base. The one that is, quite literally, underground. He doesn't mean to blow up Len's fields, the ones that turn out to be directly above the underground base.

By the time he's made his way up to the surface to discover what exactly the collateral damage is, nothing is still on fire, but the air is thick with smoke that, he suspects, smells strongly of manure. He's thankful for the air filters in his mask.

Len's old barn, the one that has been listing precipitously to one side since before the Soldier got here, is collapsing slowly, still smoldering, and barn cats are fleeing in every direction. Len's son and adult grandchildren are packing up their makeshift firefighting equipment and Len himself stands in the field with his shotgun cocked, rubber boots and flannel jacket pulled hastily on over his pyjamas.

"Who's there?" he barks.

The Soldier puts his hands up and steps out of the smoke. Even at his advanced age, Len is a credible threat, but he's not a hostile. Len has ben very generous to the Soldier while he's been here, offering room and board in exchange for tasks around the farm he's now too old to perform himself, never expecting the Soldier to provide sexual services.

"Jimmy!" says Len, lowering his shotgun. "I thought it might've been those drug dealers come back."

It says something about the state of rural America that the HYDRA operatives' most credible cover out here has been as meth cooks and addicts. The Soldier removes his mask.

"I don't think they'll be bothering you again," he says.

Len clicks his tongue in disapproval. "Now Jimmy, don't you get yourself mixed up in this masked vigilante business. You leave that to them fancy what d'ya call 'ems, Avengers, up in New York."

"It won't happen again, sir," says the Soldier. At least, not in Len's county. The Soldier has a new lead down near Abilene that he'll be following next.

"Oh no, Gramps, your vegetable patch," exclaims one of the grandchildren, and Len and the Soldier turn to investigate.

Clods of dirt, old rotted boards studded with rusty nails, and a car part or two have landed haphazardly among the pumpkins. The Soldier joins the grandchildren in picking through the rubble. A few pumpkins have been completely smashed, while others have suffered varying degrees of structural integrity breach. Len makes his way through the patch, then shouts out and crouches down. The Soldier makes his way rapidly to Len's side with the grandchildren following close behind.

When he reaches Len, Len is affectionately patting the side of a very large pumpkin the Soldier knows he has hopes of entering in the county fair.

"I'm real sorry, sir," he says, before they can be overheard.

"Done me a favor, haven't you?" says Len. "We'll keep it hush-hush. And," he says more loudly for the benefit of his relatives, "Big Betsy's still in prime shape."

He pats the pumpkin more firmly and it gives off a good hollow sound, a sign of its excellence and continued good health.

As the grandchildren crowd around Len to assure themselves he's okay, the Soldier stands up, and it's at that point that he hears a muffled, plaintive cry.

"Ssh!" he commands, and Len and his family still.

"What is it?" whispers one of the grandchildren, and another says,

"Another bomb?"

The Soldier holds his hand up for quiet, and hears another cry. It's coming from that direction over there, and he quickly heads to its source.

He crouches down and gently moves a charred board aside, and when he does so, a grimy little white kitten emerges, unsteady on his feet and his eyes barely open, but confidently expressing his dissatisfaction with the current situation.

The Soldier pulls off his gloves and holds his right hand out for the kitten to examine. There were no kittens in HYDRA, not unless you counted that one Hallowe'en party where - no, best not to think of that. The Soldier had a life before HYDRA, he must have had experience of cats and kittens then.

The kitten, having sniffed the Soldier and apparently found him acceptable, gives his hand a wobbly headbutt and promptly falls over. The Soldier gently strokes the kitten's side with one knuckle, then scoops him up to cradle him against his chest.

"Let's get you back to your ma, yeah?" he says.

The kitten attempts to worm his way into the Soldier's jacket, purring loudly. The Soldier picks his way back over to Len and holds the kitten out for him. The kitten promptly starts yelling again.

"Hm?" says Len. "Oh, that's Alpine. Didn't think he was still around. Coyotes got his ma last week."

"Oh," says the Soldier, and pulls the kitten - Alpine - close to his chest again. The feline complaints cease.

"Looks like you've got yourself a cat, son," says Len. "Better bring him back into the house and then we can get you both cleaned up."

After the Soldier showers, Len shows him how to clean Alpine up with a warm wash cloth that mimics a mother cat's tongue, and then how to feed him from an eye dropper. As Alpine laps up the milk, he kneads the front of the Soldier's shirt with tiny, razor-sharp claws, and as soon as he's done eating, he has a few more opinions to express. The Soldier thinks he might be in love.

Tonight will be the Soldier's last night staying in Len's house. It could be his last night in a clean, warm bed for a long time. He has other HYDRA cells to track down, and not all farmers are as kindly as Len. Still, though, he thinks as he pulls the covers up and looks over to where Alpine is sleeping soundly next to the pillow, nose and paws tucked under his tail, at least now he has a partner for his next mission. They're going to make a great team.

**Author's Note:**

> Like the Soldier, Len is a World War II vet, though he had a much more traditional career after the War than the Soldier did. He returned home to his family farm in Iowa, married a sweet girl he met at a church dance, and he still runs a prosperous and productive farm well into his late 90s, and in addition he is well-regarded among his community as a source of agricultural advice. One might even say he is outstanding in his field.
> 
> If you like, you may imagine that the HYDRA Hallowe'en party the Soldier is remembering is the one described in lauralot's [You Only Want to Socialize (But I Don't Think We Should)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2460149).
> 
> Visit me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ladivvinatravestia), where my asks box is always open to prompts.


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